The Ceremony – The Wedding Day Series

August 10, 2017

Ceremony

I Do & You Do Too

The ceremony is the highlight of any Bride and Groom’s day. Normally everyone is able to breath a little better after this point in the day. Normal procedure is as follows: Immediate Family, Ceremony, Family Formals, Bride & Groom portraits (if no first look)

Organizing Family Formal Pictures

If you have family members that you know typically run late in your immediate or extended family, be sure to give them a 30 – 45 minute buffer. For example: Tell family members to be there at 4:15 if their scheduled picture time is 5:00. Be sure to give them accurate directions. Another special thing to do that will also assure that everyone is informed on picture times is to send a personal note, e-mail, and or phone call to each member saying something like, “We really love you and care about you, and want you to be a part of our special day…Here is the time, place, and accurate directions to get there.”

Immediate Family

Advice – Immediate Family Photos should take another 45 minutes to 1 hour. It’s important to have additional images with your parents, grandparents, and siblings beyond the basic formals (mentioned in the section below). We all know how much weddings mean to the immediate family and we want to make sure we’re capturing enough pictures with them.

Ceremony Detail and Venue

Ideal Time Allotment – 20-30 minutes

Best Location – Ceremony Site

Ideal Time of the Day – Morning or Afternoon

Advice – Please allow 20 minutes for the second shooter to take pictures of the ceremony site, completely set up with no guests or vendors in the area. You’ll never get to see the complete setup of your ceremony site before any guests are seated so it’s important that we’re there to capture these images.

Ceremony (20-60 minutes depending on B&G)

Formals (Extended Family, Immediate Family, and Friends)

Ideal Time Allotment – 20-30 minutes

Best Time of the Day – Morning or Afternoon (Post Ceremony)

Ideal Location – Ceremony Site

Advice – Formals should take around 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on the size of your family and depending on who you want formal pictures with. Some couples have decided that they want a picture with all guests, while others have decided that they only want pictures with select VIPs to save time. We recommend something in between. We also recommend being very organized, with a list of groups and helpers from each side of the family to help round people up.